Telecoms.com

tag: european-commission

Following an assessment launched in January, Ofcom has confirmed a new measure it said will ensure good competition and encourage investment in the UK ‘superfast’ broadband market. Under the rule BT is obliged to maintain ‘sufficient’ margin between its wholesale and retail broadband network charges to avoid unfair competitive edge.

More than 100 members of European Parliament (MEPs) have signed an open letter to the European Union’s Telecoms Council, urging it to reconsider the stance being taken on two topics of significant consequence for telecoms and ICT business across the continent: roaming and net neutrality. The Council released a statement effectively conceding that a partial U-turn may be on the cards.

Ofcom has announced proposals to introduce new rules to force BT to maintain a minimum margin between its wholesale and retail fibre network charges. The move comes as BT is in talks with the owners of EE to acquire the UK’s largest mobile operator in a bid to become the dominant player in the entire UK telecoms market with a quad-play offering of fixed, mobile, broadband and TV services.

The Dutch subsidiary of T-Mobile has announced that as of next week it will begin offering free international voice and SMS allowances to customers within the EU. On its new packages, the operator plans to allow up to two hours per month of inbound and outbound voice calls anywhere within the EU, and also unlimited text messaging.

The European Commission (EC) has announced a public consultation on the future use of the ultra-high frequency (UHF) 700MHz spectrum band. It is currently mostly used by the broadcasting sector in much of Europe, but it is increasingly sought after by telecoms providers for wireless broadband.

The European Commission (EC) has decided to expand on its assessment of the proposed acquisition bid by Orange for Jazztel. The EC announced the in-depth investigation is to determine whether the proposed acquisition is in line with EU merger regulation.

European Parliament has approved a motion stressing among other things the need to unbundle search engines from the other commercial services offered by those companies. Though technically non-binding, largely symbolic and heavily criticised, the move seems largely aimed at pressuring the European Commission to investigate the possible breakup of Google. The move was brushed off by some as “political theatre.”

European Commission (EC) VP Andrus Ansip has said creating a digital single market across the 28 EU member states will benefit Europe by €260 billion a year, “potentially more”, as he put it. He claimed it is vital, and crucially depends on forming a telecoms single market first as a basis.

A leaked report has fuelled speculation that the European Commission intends to unbundle Google in response to the internet giant’s growing share in multiple markets. According to the FT, a draft motion from the Commission states that “unbundling search engines from other commercial services” is being investigated as a means of curtailing the company’s growing dominance.

Telefónica’s Big Data Director Richard Benjamins has urged the European Union to unify the continent’s telecoms market and level the playing field between operators and OTT players. He said unless action to create more transparent and fairer market is taken soon, Europe will lose its chance to be at the forefront of Big Data.

The European Commission has confirmed that two fixed line markets will no longer be subject to regulation in Europe. The retail market for access to fixed telephony, and the wholesale market for fixed call origination will no longer be affected by price caps.

The European Commission has announced that an investigation into content delivery antitrust has failed to find evidence of wrong-doing by internet service providers. Inspections were carried out after concerns were raised about the potential abuse of dominant market positions and violation of EU antitrust regulations.

UK communications regulator Ofcom has announced that Ed Richards, the group’s Chief Executive, will be standing down from his role at the end of 2014. The search for his successor is under way, and is targeted for completion in early 2015, despite Ofcom apparently having had significant advance warning of his departure.

The European Commission Vice President, Neelie Kroes, has delivered a farewell speech to the members of the European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association (ETNO); in which she urged telcos to embrace over-the-top (OTT) players, and stated her dream for the European telecommunications sector after the current Commission’s tenure ends at the end of October.

The European Commission’s (EC) plans to abolish retail roaming rates within EU altogether by 2016 could be changed to a watered-down ‘fair-use’ policy instead, according to a draft report seen by the Financial Times.

The European Commission has announced the conditional approval of Telefónica’s bid to acquire German operator E-Plus, almost a year after the deal was first announced, which will result in the merger of Germany’s third and fourth-largest operators and reduce the total number of operators in the country to three.

The European Commission and the South Korean government have jointly announced an agreement designed to facilitate the definition and development of 5G wireless technologies. A key immediate aim is to establish a global consensus on the definition of 5G, something that the industry has only very recently begun to discuss in public.

Vodafone on Friday piled pressure on its peers for transparency in how much access governments and authorities have to national telecommunications networks. The UK-based carrier released a substantial document revealing the level of government access required in each of the 29 countries the company holds an operating licence in.

The European Parliament’s Industry and Research Committee (ITRE) has voted to approve the telecoms single market package proposed by the European Commission. The package, outlined in September 2013, aims to abolish roaming rates within the EU as well as coordinate spectrum assignment across the region. It also calls for consumer rights to be harmonised across Europe, EU-wide protection of net neutrality and simpler rules across the EU to enable companies to invest more and cross borders with their offerings.

European lawmakers have called for a common charger to be used for all mobile handsets sold in the EU. MEPs said that such that introducing a universal charger would reduce waste, cost and hassle for users. A draft outlining the legislation has been informally agreed with the EU’s Council of Ministers.

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